Category: Speeches

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reply they intend to give to the petition of Ms Jennifer Chim Pik Yee of Hong Kong addressed to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    Ms Chim Pik petitioned Parliament for a debate on human rights relating to assistance that was provided to her in 2004 following a civil dispute in Pakistan. We have explained that there is nothing further that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can do to assist her.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a ban on snares.

    Rory Stewart

    Policy on wildlife management issues including snares is a devolved matter so I can only speak for England.

    In 2012 Defra published research on the extent of use and humaneness of snares in England and Wales. This research included an analysis of the issues covered by the code. Ministers are currently considering options.

    Defra and its agencies do not use snares on their property.

  • Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Eilidh Whiteford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Eilidh Whiteford on 2015-12-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on women with a mental function problem of the different assessment recommended for them in its Work Capability Assessment handbook on risk of self-harm, suicide or other risk.

    Priti Patel

    The Department took its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 into account when making changes to the WCA handbook and recognises it has an on-going equality duty under the Act and is committed to complying with this duty.

  • Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Steven Paterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steven Paterson on 2016-01-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the second report on the IAAF of the Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency, published on 15 January 2016.

    Tracey Crouch

    The findings of the report are disturbing. The government is committed to tackling corruption in sport and we will continue working with UK Anti-Doping and sport stakeholders to ensure that our athletes can compete in a clean sport environment.

  • Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Louise Haigh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2016-02-09.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 21746, what estimate he has made of the value of Integrated Debt Services Limited; and how much the private sector partner paid to purchase their 75 per cent stake in Indresser.

    Matthew Hancock

    The value of Integrated Debt Services Limited and the amount that the private sector partner subscribed for their 75% stake in Indesser are both considered to be commercially sensitive and cannot be shared.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-03-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on its consultation on air display and low-flying permission charges.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    I have had no discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority on its consultation on air display and low-flying permission charges.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to further investigate the deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital; and whether any future inquiry will be statutory in nature.

    Ben Gummer

    On 10 July 2014, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health announced the establishment of the Gosport Independent Panel, chaired by Bishop James Jones, set up to review documentary evidence held across a range of organisations concerning the initial care of families’ relatives and the subsequent investigations into their deaths in Gosport War Memorial Hospital.

    The terms of reference for the Gosport Independent Panel, agreed with the families of the deceased and those treated, were published on 9 December 2014. In summary the terms of reference are to:

    ― consult with the families of the deceased and of those treated to ensure that the views of those affected are taken into consideration;

    ― obtain, examine and analyse documentation from all relevant organisations and individuals (governmental and non-governmental); and

    ― produce a report which will provide an overview of the information reviewed by the Panel and will illustrate how the information disclosed adds to public understanding of these events and their aftermath.

    The review by the Independent Panel is expected to complete by the end of 2017. Until such time as the findings of the Panel are published the Government does not intend to conduct any further inquiries.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-05-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many key stage 1 children in (a) Ashfield and (b) Nottinghamshire were in classes of more than 30 children in the academic year beginning September (i) 2015, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2013.

    Nick Gibb

    Information about the number of pupils in key stage 1 classes with more than 30 pupils is available at school level in the underlying data of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistics[1].

    Information on class sizes for the academic year beginning September 2015 is not yet available and is due to be released in June 2016.

    The following table shows the number of pupils in key stage 1 classes with more than 30 pupils in schools in Ashfield constituency and Nottinghamshire local authority for the academic years beginning in September 2013 and 2014.

    Ashfield Constituency

    Nottinghamshire LA

    January 2014 (academic year beginning September 2013)

    157

    1,184

    January 2015 (academic year beginning September 2014)

    62

    1,215

    There were no pupils in key stage 1 classes of more than 35 in either Ashfield or Nottinghamshire in January 2014 or January 2015.

    [1] Data from January 2014 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014 in the file called ‘SFR15_2014_school_level_classes_UD’ within the underlying data download.

    Data from January 2015 is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015 in the file called ‘SFR16_2015_Schools_Classes_UD’ within the underlying data download.

    “

  • Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Hylton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2016-06-28.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the government of Turkey about (1) violence in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and (2) the disproportionate targeting of members of that chamber from specific parties in the proposed removal of parliamentary immunity as a result of prosecution requests.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    The Government is aware of disturbances in the Turkish parliament which took place in the context of its decision to lift parliamentary immunities for MPs. We continue to stress that, as a modern democracy, we would expect Turkey, following the lifting of immunity, to undertake any subsequent legal processes transparently and fully respect the rule of law.

  • Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Lord Polak – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Polak on 2016-09-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the total values of UK aid disbursements in the Palestinian territories given for the purpose of (1) legal assistance, and (2) promoting peaceful co-existence, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    In each of the last five years the UK has provided the following support for legal assistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs):

    Year

    Disbursement

    2012/2013

    £340,000

    2013/2014

    £2,011,000

    2014/2015

    £2,550,000

    2015/2016

    £2,655,000

    2016/2017

    £1,000,000*

    Total

    £8,556,000

    *as this is the current financial year, this figure is subject to change.

    The DFID Secretary of State is currently considering options for co-existence programmes as part of a wider examination of DFID’s programme in the OPTs. The FCO has supported several co-existence projects in Israel.